The New Jersey Devils are sending forward Ondrej Palat, a 2026 3rd round pick, and a 2027 6th round pick to the New York Islanders in exchange for forward Maxim Tsyplakov.
The Devils will not retain any of Palat’s $6M salary as part of the deal. Tsyplakov originally signed with the Islanders as a free agent in May of 2024. Currently in the first season of a two-year, $4,500,000 million contract ($2.25M AAV), the 27 year old has 2 points across 27 games for the Islanders in 2025-26.
A native of Moscow, Russia, Tsyplakov registered 121 points (63G, 58A) across 327 games in the KHL before coming over to North America.
Fans knew that Palat’s days were numbered in New Jersey when it was announced he would be held out of the team’s game vs. the Winnipeg Jets for “roster related reasons”. The 34-year-old inked a five-year, $30M deal with the Devils back in 2022 following three straight Stanley Cup Final appearances with the Lightning.
However, he’s struggled to replicate the level of success he had in Tampa while donning a Devils uniform, and is currently on pace for career lows in most statistical categories. The deal for a depth player like Tsyplakov is essentially a salary dump with some draft capital sweeteners sprinkled in.
That being said, New Jersey now have nearly $7M worth of cap space to make use of before the NHL roster freeze on February 4th ahead of the Winter Olympics. Following the Winter Games in Italy, they’ll then have until March 6th to complete any trades before the 2026 NHL trade deadline passes.
Palat had be rumoured to be on the trade block dating back to last season, when the team unsuccessfully tried to move him to clear way for a Quinn Hughes trade. With Hughes now in Minnesota ostensibly through the end of his deal next season, New Jersey will have to set their sights on a veteran addition with minimal term remaining on his deal.
At 27-23-2 on the year, the Devils are currently in 6th place in the Metropolitan division, but just 5 points back of a playoff spot. How active GM Tom Fitzgerald is over the next month could largely dictate whether New Jersey is a playoff team, or left on the outside looking in this spring.
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